The Stephenson and Co. Grocers constructing will likely be relocated, whereas the Stampede Elm should be introduced down
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Two items of Calgary’s historical past should be eliminated to make means for the town’s new downtown occasion centre, together with a century-old grocery and an iconic elm tree.
Inbuilt 1911, the Stephenson and Co. Grocers constructing on the nook of thirteenth Avenue and fifth Road S.E. will likely be dismantled and relocated this spring, in response to a metropolis information launch on Monday.
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Plans to protect the two-storey brick constructing and “combine it again into Calgary’s modern-day city panorama” are being explored, the town stated.
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How that will likely be performed remains to be undetermined, however the metropolis stated choices might embody repurposing the constructing right into a storefront, cultural or community-centric facility.
Till then, the constructing will likely be saved at an undisclosed location to safeguard it.
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Josh Traptow, the CEO of Heritage Calgary, stated the Stephenson and Co. constructing has “stood the take a look at of time” regardless of the ever-evolving nature of Victoria Park. He stated he’s happy to see the town is selecting to reintegrate it, somewhat than simply demolish it to accommodate the long run occasion centre.
Whereas it doesn’t have an official heritage designation, the Stephenson and Co. constructing does fall beneath a authorized settlement between the town and the Calgary Stampede that protects it.
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Although the constructing has lately been utilized in different capacities, Traptow stated it has served as a preferred meals retailer or grocery for 80-plus years, making it “one of many final remaining components” of Victoria Park’s early historical past.
“When Victoria Park was constructed out . . . that may have been the place lots of people went to get their groceries,” he stated.
Iconic elm tree to get the chop
The opposite piece of Calgary’s historical past that will likely be affected by the upcoming development of Calgary’s new $900-million area and occasion centre is the just about 125-year-old American elm tree rooted within the Saddledome parking zone.
Also known as the Stampede Elm, the enduring tree is believed to have been planted in early 1900, initially on the intersection of 4 backyards.
Regardless of the consequences of growth since then, the tree has remained in Victoria Park close to the Stampede grounds all through its 100-plus-year life.
Although the tree should be introduced all the way down to make means for the occasion centre, the town stated it intends to “honour its legacy” via numerous preservation efforts.
These embody a partnership with the College of Calgary in 2021 to create a digital three-dimensional rendition, which was captured by scanning the tree from 12 areas utilizing a terrestrial laser. That picture is now a part of the U of C’s Alberta Digital Heritage Archive.
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Calgary Parks workers additionally collected roughly 150 seeds from the tree, in response to the town, which will likely be replanted in a neighborhood tree nursery. In addition they reduce branches from the tree, with plans to domesticate these into new and self-supporting bushes.
If the branches propagate efficiently, it’ll create genetically equivalent bushes to the Stampede Elm that may be replanted into Calgary’s city forest.
“Whereas the success charge is just not assured and sometimes unpredictable, we’re hopeful that between 100 to 200 bushes will likely be replanted into Calgary’s city forest within the coming years between all of the preservation efforts underway,” the town stated.
Traptow known as that answer a “best-case situation” for the spectacular elm, noting the tree seemingly wouldn’t have survived a translocation.
“I do know in early days, the town had checked out if they may probably transfer it, however shifting a tree of that measurement and the chance of it surviving the transfer was small,” he stated. “I believe the cloning and seedlings are an effective way to go.”
sstrasser@postmedia.com
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